Private Voting and Public Outcomes in Rural Elections: Some Evidence from India

NCAER Working Papers on Decentralisation and Rural Governance in India ALIGNING WITH ONE’S OWN: Private Voting and Public Outcomes in Rural Elections: Some Evidence from India Raghbendra Jha Hari K. Nagarajan Kailash C. Pradhan No 10 December 2012 ALIGNING WITH ONE’S OWN: Private Voting and Public Outcomes in Rural Elections: Some Evidence from India# Raghbendra Jha Hari K. Nagarajan Kailash C. Pradhan Australian National University, NCAER, New Delhi NCAER, New Delhi Canberra Abstract Identity based voting is a second best solution adopted by households to minimize the negative effects of one’s own identity and (or) identity based coalitions. If a significant source of household welfare is one’s identity or, membership in ethnically defined groups, then politics that results will be parochial in nature. In parochial politics voting along ethnic lines becomes a significant tool for gaining welfare or to discipline the elected representatives. Using newly available data from rural India, we establish that identity based voting will lead to enhanced participation in welfare programs and increased consumption growth. The paper is able to able to show that identity based voting results from the externalities derived from membership in social and information networks, and such voting by enhancing participation in welfare programs leads to significant increases in household consumption growth. Key Words: Identity Based Voting, Panchayats, Decentralization, Devolution JEL Classification: D7, D72, D73 # This paper is part of the IDRC–NCAER research program on “Building Policy Research Capacity for Rural Governance and Growth in India” (grant number 105223). We wish to thank Hans Binswanger and Andrew Foster for comments on earlier drafts. The usual caveat applies. Right wing academic force — particularly a group of sociologists and anthropologists — advised the Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance Government not to go for caste based census in 2001 as it would go against the ruling upper castes and communities. It is fallacious to argue that society will get further divided if the population of each caste is known to the policy maker and public…It is true that we cannot distribute everything based on caste. But caste census is the right basis for statistics such as literacy rates and issues like proportional representation. Once we cite the Census data there cannot be any authentic opposition to that evidence…In a democracy based on numbers, any section of the society can come to power. If the caste census in done, then Indian democracy would thrive on the firm support of the lower castes who keep hoping of getting their share based on their numbers — Kancha Ilaiah (an academic arguing for a caste based census in India).1 Socio-economic development can be planned for OBCs like for the SC/STs. Every group must get their due” - (President of the Congress party in Tamil Nadu) I. Introduction It has been established in the literature that parochial politics- often associated with inadequate provision of public goods, clientelism, and, kleptocracies-could result from and lead to persistently weak governance. In such circumstances, informal institutions (social networks) are often the mechanisms by which leaders are both elected and “disciplined” (Munshi and Rosenzweig, 2008). Since in Indian parochial politics castes (henceforth Jatis)2 play a significant role both during and after elections, it is important to understand the drivers of participation in elections, and relate these to specific outcomes. For individual households elections are a means of ensuring that a socially appropriate candidate (i.e., of the “correct” identity) is elected. If social networks (organized along the lines of Jati) are playing a significant role in providing information, and mutual insurance, such networks could also play a critical role in voting decisions. Identity based voting for a candidate is then a collective decision of both households and the network and influences the outcome of public decisions, especially in the supply of local public goods, ensuring access to public goods and improvements in welfare for both individual 1 The Sunday Express, July 4, 2010 2 The term caste is an aggregation. An appropriate reference to the social position of a member (and household) is Jati. In this paper we will refer to the social position by Jati. The official aggregation will be referred to as caste (such as SC/ST, or OBC). members, households as well as for the network as a whole. In this paper, we argue that identity based voting is a mechanism by which voters can ensure commitment by elected representatives to deliver public goods as well as adhere to the mandates of the elections. Why do we observe identity based voting? It can be argued that a decentralized political apparatus is adequate to ensure commitment by elected representatives3. However, in socially fragmented societies where groups of households identifying with their Jatis may be excluded from access to public goods, or where the system of governance is synonymous with clientelism, this assumption may not be valid. In such circumstances, identity based voting may be a mechanism for inclusion (a form of signaling) as well as ensuring commitment. Hence, social networks can affect not only the quality of mutual insurance (Munshi and Rosenzweig, 2006), allow access to labor markets and credit (Banerjee and Munshi 2004; Munshi and Rosenzweig, 2005), but also influence the political process and the consequent provision of local public goods: candidates elected on the basis of identity, cannot deviate from commitment. Hence, both the quantum of provision and access to public goods will increase. Much of Indian social policy has been designed to afford primacy to welfare of specific groups (defined either by their ethnicity or socio-economic well being). The Indian Constitution recognizes and provides impetus to policy for enhancing welfare of groups based on their socio economic status. The Panchayati Raj Amendment to the Indian Constitution (73rd) has enabling provisions for gender, and disadvantaged groups.4 Households, therefore, will derive positive externalities from membership in groups as well as social networks. The electoral process is a means for specific groups to elect a representative with a congruent identity. Voting in elections will maximize returns to specific groups and lead to significant increases in welfare of individual 3 Caillaud and Tirole (2002); Snyder and Ting, (2002 and Alesina and Spear (1988) 4 There is in fact much confusion in the formulation of the implementation of policies related to decentralization and devolution. This has to do with whether empowerment through decentralization must be of households or of household groups (referred to also by some as community). Saxena (2011) argues that one of the pathologies of the implementation has to do with a lack of focus on community (in fact, inability to focus) and the fact that the current design allows for individual households trying to corner benefits meant for the community. Given the nature of formation of communities (always defined by Jatis in rural India), it is only natural that such pathologies are observed. Focus on group welfare in the Indian context will always lead to this outcome for individuals within communities will act in a way to maximize community welfare and capture benefits meant for other communities. households that have either aligned themselves to these groups or are natural members.5 Ideally decentralization and devolution are accompanied by a significant responsibility to raise local revenues, thus permitting households to enforce commitment. In a situation where sufficient functions, as well as functionaries have not been devolved to local governments, but funds are being devolved, clientelism becomes the norm. Identity based voting may then become a significant method of enforcing commitment and for accessing funds. The literature on voting behavior is large (Dal Bó et al., 2008, and Zhang and Laband, 2005) shows that the choice of institutions could dictate the nature of the electoral process and affect outcomes. Strategic voting is often a means resorted to by households to minimize elite capture. Such capture is sought to be achieved by all social groups requiring us to inquire as to what characteristics of a system are conducive to elite capture. The extant literature shows that elite capture may or may not always exist in systems of decentralized governance or donor-funded community based development programs. There are several explanations for such variation. Information asymmetry and inefficiency in allocation of resources are two major reasons why it is believed elite capture takes place (Laffont and Tirole, 1991). Baron (1994), and Grossman and Helpman (1996) argue that electoral competition and the guarantee to incumbents that they will succeed in getting re-elected is another determinant of the degree of elite capture. Besley and Burgess (2002) show that the distribution of disaster relief materials is more equitable and efficient in places when there is greater circulation of information through newspapers and other forms of media as opposed to places with poor economic base and low circulation of information. Bardhan and Mukherjee (2002) argue that the propensity of local democracy to be subjected to elite capture will depend on the location and the context in which it occurs. Elite capture therefore is a relative phenomenon with its degree depending

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